can anyone tell me what globalization means and what are it's effects?

Answer 1

Globalisation or globalization is an umbrella term for a complex series of economic, social, technological, cultural and political changes seen as increasing interdependence, integration and interaction between people and companies in disparate locations. As a term 'globalization' has been used as early as 1944[citation needed] but economists began applying it around 1981. Theodore Levitt is usually credited with its coining through the article he wrote in 1983 for the Harvard Business Review entitled "Globalization of Markets". The more encompassing phenomenon has been perceived in the context of sociological study on a worldwide scale.

The term "globalization" is used to refer to these collective changes as a process, or else as the cause of turbulent change. The distinct uses include:

* Economically and socially positive: As an engine of commerce; one which brings an increased standard of living — prosperity to developing countries and further wealth to First World and Third World countries.

* Economically, socially, and ecologically negative: As an engine of "corporate imperialism"; one which tramples over the human rights of developing societies, claims to bring prosperity, yet often simply amounts to plundering and profiteering. Negative effects include cultural assimilation via cultural imperialism, the export of artificial wants, and the destruction or inhibition of authentic local and global community, ecology and cultures.

A typical - but restrictive - definition can be taken from the International Monetary Fund,[1] which stresses the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide through increasing volume and variety of cross-border transactions in goods and services, free international capital flows, and more rapid and widespread diffusion of technology.

While being a complex and multifaceted array of phenomena, globalization can be broken down into separate aspects:

* industrial globalization (alias transnationalization) - rise and expansion of multinational enterprises
* financial globalization - emergence of worldwide financial markets and better access to external financing for corporate, national and subnational borrowers
* political globalization - spread of political sphere of interests to the regions and countries outside the neighbourhood of political (state and non-state) actors
* informational globalization - increase in information flows between geographically remote locations
* cultural globalization - growth of cross-cultural contacts

Globalization/internationalisation has become identified with a number of trends, most of which may have developed or accelerated since World War II. These include greater international movement of commodities, money, information, and people; and the development of technology, organizations, legal systems, and infrastructures to allow this movement. The actual existence of some of these trends is debated.[citation needed]

* Economically
o Increase in international trade at a much faster rate than the growth in the world economy
o Increase in international flow of capital including foreign direct investment
o Creation of international agreements leading to organizations like the WTO and economic cartels such as OPEC
o Development of global financial systems
o Increased role of international organizations such as WTO, WIPO, IMF that deal with international transactions
o Increase of economic practices like outsourcing and offshoring by multinational corporations

Critics of the economic aspects of globalization contend that it is not, as its proponents tend to imply, an inexorable process that flows naturally from the economic needs of everyone. The critics typically emphasize that globalization is a process that is mediated according to elite imperatives, and typically raise the possibility of alternative global institutions and policies, which they believe address the moral claims of poor and working classes throughout the globe, as well as environmental concerns in a more equitable way.[5]

In terms of the controversial global migration issue, disputes revolve around both its causes, whether and to what extent it is voluntary or involuntary, necessary or unnecessary; and its effects, whether beneficial, or socially and environmentally costly. Proponents tend to see migration simply as a process whereby white and blue collar workers may go from one country to another to provide their services, while critics tend to emphasize negative causes such as economic, political, and environmental insecurity, and cite as one notable effect, the link between migration and the enormous growth of urban slums in developing countries. According to "The Challenge of Slums," a 2003 UN-Habitat report, "the cyclical nature of capitalism, increased demand for skilled versus unskilled labour, and the negative effects of globalization — in particular, global economic booms and busts that ratchet up inequality and distribute new wealth unevenly — contribute to the enormous growth of slums."[6]


Various aspects of globalization are seen as harmful by public-interest activists as well as strong state nationalists. This movement has no unified name. "Anti-globalization" is the media's preferred term; it can lead to some confusion, as activists typically oppose certain aspects or forms of globalization, not globalization per se. Activists themselves, for example Noam Chomsky, have said that this name is meaningless as the aim of the movement is to globalize justice. Indeed, the global justice movement is a common name. Many activists also unite under the slogan "another world is possible", which has given rise to names such as altermondialisme in French.

There are a wide variety of kinds of "anti-globalization". In general, critics claim that the results of globalization have not been what was predicted when the attempt to increase free trade began, and that many institutions involved in the system of globalization have not taken the interests of poorer nations, the working class, and the environment into account.

Supporters of democratic globalization are sometimes called pro-globalists. They consider that the first phase of globalization, which was market-oriented, should be completed by a phase of building global political institutions representing the will of world citizens. The difference with other globalists is that they do not define in advance any ideology to orient this will, which should be left to the free choice of those citizens via a democratic process.

Supporters of free trade point out that economic theories of comparative advantage suggest that free trade leads to a more efficient allocation of resources, with all countries involved in the trade benefiting. In general, this leads to lower prices, more employment and higher output.

Libertarians and other proponents of laissez-faire capitalism say higher degrees of political and economic freedom in the form of democracy and capitalism in the developed world are both ends in themselves and also produce higher levels of material wealth. They see globalization as the beneficial spread of liberty and capitalism.